Notre Dame - TeamReport

Notre Dame still lurks outside the Bowl Championship Series top 25 and victories in the two final games won't likely propel the Irish into a top five bowl game.

Post-season projections instead range from the Dec. 26 Little Caesars Bowl against Northern Illinois to the Dec. 28 Pinstripe Bowl against Rutgers at Yankee Stadium or the Jan. 1 Heart of Dallas Bowl against Iowa.

But the emerging consensus -- at least for now -- comes from five prognosticators who see Notre Dame in the Dec. 31 Independence Bowl against Boston College.

Irish coach Brian Kelly brushes off bowl business, concentrating instead on a return from a bye week and Saturday's home season finale against BYU (7-3).

"At this point right now we are focused on how to win the BYU game more so than bigger picture issues," he said.

"The week off proved to be effective for us," he added. "I thought we had a great day yesterday. We scrimmaged the guys a little bit. We got some work together, 11-on-11, which we normally don't have, especially in a game week. ... I thought the legs were fresh. I thought if there was any rust off the guys, we got them out there moving."

Notre Dame (7-3) knows how challenging BYU can be. It took a fourth quarter touchdown from George Atkinson III's to help the Irish to a 17-14 come-from-behind victory.

"We are going to have to play really good defense," Kelly said. "If we can play really good defense and that means assignments are going to be huge. We can't have the quarterback unattended to. We haven't have the dive unattended to. We are going to get some run/pass conflicts that we are going to have to be on body with. They really force you to be on task every play."

Cougars quarterback Taysom Hill has led a fast-paced offense that has run 868 plays and averaged 33.5 points per game.

Thirty-three seniors will be saluted at Saturday's home finale, including veteran quarterback Tommy Rees, who closes out his four-year career

"He's the only quarterback that I've known in my four years here in terms of consistency of being here," Kelly said. "(He's) certainly a young man that we are going to miss. I love his competitiveness and his drive. ... He really loves Notre Dame and understands Notre Dame and understands the distinctions of Notre Dame."

Rees ranks among the top five in school history in nine career passing categories.

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NCAAF Team Report - Notre Dame - NOTES, QUOTES

PLAYERS TO WATCH

--LT Zack Martin has started in 35 victories during his Irish career, tying for the third most in school history. He's started all 49 games over the last four years, which ranks second in school history. Sam Young (2006-09) holds the school record of 50.

--TE Troy Niklas and Ben Koyack are one of the most productive duos in school history with a combined for eight TDs this season, the second-most by tight ends in single-season school history.

--Senior WR TJ Jones, who has a catch in a school-record 37 straight games, has a TD grab in seven consecutive games. He could match the school record of eight straight games with a TD catch held by Jeff Samardzija (2005) and Golden Tate (2009). Jones needs six catches to top Rhema McKnight (170, 2002-06) and claim third on the Irish all-time list.

--Since 1900, Notre Dame is 63-17-2 coming off a bye week and 31-7 since 1984.

--Notre Dame has defeated three teams currently ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll: No. 13 Michigan State, No. 19 Arizona State and No. 23 USC. No FBS team has more victories against the current AP Top 25.

--The Irish are 63-19-1 in home season finales at Notre Dame Stadium. This year's senior class could be the first to win all four final home matches during their tenure and are among the winningest in school history, going 35-14 over the past four years.

--Exiled quarterback Everett Golson has reapplied for admission to Notre Dame after being punished for academic violations. If readmitted, Kelly said he could practice with the Irish in the run up to a bowl game.

SERIES HISTORY: Notre Dame has a 5-2 lead over BYU -- including a 4-1 mark at Notre Dame Stadium -- in a series dating back to 1992. The Irish have won three of the last four meetings, including a 17-14 triumph last year in South Bend. The Cougars are the first team to play at Notre Dame Stadium in consecutive seasons since Pittsburgh in 2001-02.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "It's not as much of an awe factor for me from the first time I went to South Bend. All I can try to do is to pass on that it's a great experience, but we are going there to play well. They can maybe look around the stadium, etc., maybe afterwards and hopefully with a positive experience." -- BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall on the experience of playing at Notre Dame.